John Wooden finally called it a career in 1975, but not
before taking one last NCAA title into retirement with him. The timing of
his announcement was exquisite, coming immediately after UCLA's 7574 overtime
win against Louisville in the NCAA semifinal at San Diego. That was March 29.
Two nights later, the Bruins won one more championship for the Wizardbeating
Kentucky, 9285, as Richard Washington and David Meyers combined for 52
points.

Wooden walked away with 10 NCAA titles, an overall record
of 664162, an NCAA tournament record of 4710, and 19 different Coach of
the Year awards over 29 seasons.

UCLA (AP) and Indiana (UPI) shared No.1 honors during the
regular season, but the Hoosiers missed a trip to the Final Four when they lost
to Kentucky in the Mideast Regional final.


Princeton (22-8) defeated Providence 80-69 to win the NIT, the only major
tournament ever won by an Ivy League school.


UCLA coach John Wooden retired after 29 years of coaching, leaving with a
664-162 record. In the last 12 seasons, his record was 335-22, and 12
appearances in the Final Four resulted in a 21-3 record.

UCLA wins one for The Wizard - 1975By Joe Gergen
For The Sporting News

With a short, cryptic announcement in the UCLA dressing room, John Wooden
signaled the end of a remarkable era.

Moments after the Bruins had reached the NCAA championship game for the 10th
time in 12 years, the coach who had built the greatest dynasty in college
basketball history told his players the next game would be his last. He did so
with characteristic understatement and an economy of words.

"I think he had it all planned out," senior guard Pete Trgovich
said. "I think he was planning to announce it if we got to the final.
Everything was quiet in here when he spoke.

"He said: 'I'm bowing out. I don't want to, but I have to.' I don't know
what he meant by that. He didn't say too much else. His voice was kind of
cracking."

The disclosure came in the aftermath of a taxing and thrilling 75-74 overtime
victory in the national semifinals against Louisville at the San Diego Sports
Arena. The announcement gave a good but not exceptional UCLA team additional
motivation after some difficult games in the NCAA Tournament, which had an
enlarged bracket with 32 teams, seven more than the year before. In addition,
the tournament was opened to more than one representative from the same
conference for the first time.

The Bruins, however, did not need one of the NCAA's extra invitations because
they won their ninth consecutive Pacific-8 Conference title in 1975. Nor was
Wooden seeking an edge in the championship game by telling players that it would
be his swan song.

"I don't want to use this to hype up my ballplayers," he said.
"I don't believe in that."

Wooden traditionally shunned emotional ploys. In his 27 years at UCLA, he had
maintained his distance from his players and cultivated an image as one who was
successful because of thoughtful planning and a sensible approach to the sport.
He coached not on his feet or from his knees, but from a seat on the bench,
always second from the end nearest the scorer's table, where he crossed his
legs, rolled up his program and directed his team with the air of a man studying
a knotty problem in quantum physics.

"The coach shies away from people who are jumping up and down,"
said consensus All-America forward Dave Meyers, the UCLA captain.

According to the coach, the timing of the announcement was forced by the
imminent revelation of his retirement plans in Los Angeles newspapers. Beyond
the issue of his health, he declined to comment on his reasons for stepping down
at 64. Wooden had suffered a mild heart attack two years earlier and had been
advised to retire.

"I haven't been sick," he said, "but lately I haven't been
feeling as well as usual. Over the years, I've never had trouble sleeping,
except, of course, after games, but I couldn't even do that as a player. But the
last two weeks I couldn't sleep at all.

"I've been worried, concerned about my physical well-being, worried
about my team and other things."

His team had given him cause for concern. The Bruins had been taken into
overtime by Michigan in the first round of the NCAA Tournament two weeks earlier
and had been pressed to defeat Montana in the West Regional semifinals. Their
89-75 triumph over Arizona State in the regional final was convincing, but they
hadn't so much beaten Louisville as survived in one of the finest games in the
annals of the Final Four.

Louisville, which was coached by Denny Crum, a former player and assistant
under Wooden, opened a 65-61 lead with 1:06 remaining on two free throws by
guard Phillip Bond.

But 6-foot-9 sophomore Richard Washington made two foul shots and classmate
Marques Johnson stole an inbounds pass, then followed a missed shot for a 65-65
tie. Junior guard Andre McCarter had a chance to win the game for UCLA in
regulation but missed a driving layup. A last-second jump shot from the corner
by Louisville's Junior Bridgeman was off-target, forcing an extra period.

UCLA fell behind, 72-69, in overtime as forward Allen Murphy scored the
Cardinals' first seven points. Johnson and Louisville forward Wesley Cox traded
baskets and then Meyers sank both free throws in a one-and-one foul situation to
cut the deficit to 74-73 with 57 seconds left.

The Cardinals went to a four-corner offense, trying to protect the ball and
draw a foul. Reserve Terry Howard, a ballhandling specialist and free-throw
marksman, worked the clock, dribbling around the middle of the floor.

Howard was the last man the Bruins wanted to foul, but at the 20-second mark
they had no alternative. Guard Jim Spillane reached in and Howard, a senior who
had not missed a free throw in 28 attempts that season, went to the line. He
picked a terrible time to miss his first.

The ball spun around the rim and out, Washington grabbed the rebound and UCLA
called a timeout. Assistant coach Gary Cunningham diagrammed a play while Wooden
stood by his side, watching and listening.

The play worked just as planned. The Bruins passed the ball around until
Washington freed himself for a short jump shot from the right side of the lane.
It caught only net, boosting UCLA into the lead with three seconds left. Murphy,
who led all scorers with 33 points, fumbled the inbounds pass for Louisville,
assuring Wooden of a grand finale.

Kentucky, the Bruins' opponent in the championship game, was a physical team
with a massive front line and impressive depth. The Wildcats had upset
previously undefeated Indiana in the Mideast Regional final before trouncing
Syracuse, 95-79, in the national semifinals. Kentucky's victory over the
undermanned Orangemen had resembled an execution, and not a neat one, either.

"We have great momentum at the present time," Wildcats coach Joe B.
Hall said. "I don't think coach Wooden's resignation will have any negative
effect on our team psychologically.

"What it does to his team, I can't say."

Wooden wasn't about to appeal to hysteria. A man who was as proud of his
self-control as he was of his record didn't want the last game of his coaching
career to sound like a personal crusade. He had no intention of asking his
players to win one for "The Wizard."

Wooden addressed them briefly before the game.

"He just said, 'Good luck, fellows,' " McCarter said. "It was
like he was stepping out of it and just leaving it up to us. But he had us
prepared. And I feel his retirement was a great motivation factor even though he
stressed winning it for ourselves."

What the Bruins did, without benefit of a pep talk, was accomplish as much as
any UCLA team of the past, as much as any team can be expected to do. The Bruins
defeated Kentucky, 92-85, and presented their coach with a crowning achievement,
his 10th NCAA title.

"I played my heart out for coach Wooden," said Meyers, the team's
intense leader. "It meant that much to me. He deserves to go out a
winner."

For their part, the Wildcats didn't concede readily. They went to their
inside muscle game immediately and then forward Kevin Grevey, their finest
outside shooter, sparked Kentucky to a 17-12 lead.

UCLA roared back to take a 43-40 advantage at halftime, then pushed the lead
to 66-56 after eight minutes of the second half.

It was at that stage that Grevey, the game's high scorer with 34 points,
rediscovered his touch. He scored two three-point plays and the lead melted
until, with 6:49 left, it was down to one, 76-75. The critical moment was at
hand.

UCLA worked to set up Meyers from the top of the key, but as the Bruins
forward went up to shoot, Grevey appeared in his path. Meyers landed on Grevey,
both men went sprawling and the UCLA player was whistled for the foul, his
fourth.

"I was very upset," Meyers said, "because I felt he went
underneath me as I went up."

Meyers' display of anger -- he screamed and pounded the floor in disgust --
drew a technical foul, giving Grevey the opportunity to shoot a one-and-one and
then a technical. The Wildcats also would gain possession.

If everything went smoothly, Kentucky would have five points and a four-point
lead.

Instead, the Wildcats got none. Grevey missed both the front end of the
one-and-one and the technical. Kentucky committed a turnover. The game was lost
then and there.

The Wildcats climbed within one point when 6-9 Bob Guyette hit a 13-foot shot
to make it 78-77 with 5:14 left, but they never were closer than three points
thereafter. McCarter clinched the victory by driving the lane and scoring on a
layup for a 90-85 lead with 40 seconds left.

Washington, who earned the outstanding player award after leading UCLA in
scoring in both Final Four games, provided the Bruins' last two points on a pair
of free throws.

UCLA had used only six men to combat perhaps the strongest team in the
country, but those six (including backup center Ralph Drollinger) were
magnificent. At the end, they bounded off the court, thrusting their fists in
the air in acknowledgment of their conquest. Wooden trailed quietly behind,
holding a basketball.

"I suppose anyone would like to go out with a victory," he said,
his face almost devoid of expression. "The fact that the victory was for
the national championship doesn't lessen the pleasure."

The realization of what had transpired didn't seem to sink in until after he
had spoken to his players, newsmen and well-wishers. It happened about 45
minutes after the game in the corridor leading to the UCLA dressing room, where
he encountered Nell Wooden, his wife of 42 years.

John Wooden, who had stared clear-eyed through those spectacles that lent him
the appearance of a Midwestern schoolmaster, silently cried. And the two
embraced for what seemed like an eternity.